How bias works

Rupert Murdoch not only controls what his readers/viewers/listeners learn via right-wing bias (which has long been denied but was finally confirmed last month); he controls what readers/viewers/listeners of other news services learn via accusing them of left-wing bias.

Now, the BBC did make us aware of this in the initial report, but on subsequent reports (especially on radio), they let the claims that this was new/significant money slide in the hope that sensible people would remember the important bit. They do this kind of thing because:
1) They fear that it will be used as a stick to beat them with. (Why does the BBC continue with their anti-American propaganda? etc. etc.)
2) It takes about 18 seconds to explain, and time/space is precious in media.
3) They place great trust in your intelligence.

But FOX has a cleverererer way of dealing with it. They develop a catchphrase that sums up an issue (from their point of view) and/or undermines one of their targets and repeat it again and again and again.

If the BBC were as guilty of bias as Murdoch’s minions claim they are, then this would have been dubbed ‘pocket change’ from Day One and you would still be hearing the term describing it today.

But the BBC don’t do this. FOX do. The Sun does it too. Again and again and again. All the while crying hysterically that the BBC is pushing a liberal agenda. They do this kind of thing because:
1) They do not fear Teh Stick. They are Teh Stick.
2) It takes about 1.5 seconds to assert (no explanation required), and time/space is precious in media.
3) They place great trust in your stupidity.

2 Responses to "How bias works"

We in America have watched this stage being set for 5 years. The right wing talkers (Limbaugh, O’Reilly, Scarborough etc) began villifying the “Left-wing Media”, so that anytime anyone said anything that disagreed with the Administration’s view could be automatically labeled as “biased” or “communist”, and therefore ignored.Journalists who asked hard-hitting questions at Press gatherings were barred or not called on. Media in general were threatened with Patriot Act provisions that could imprison you if you spoke out against the Administration’s policy during a “time of war”.I cannot but think of Star Wars, where the Jedi Knight is able to instantly brainwash a weak-minded person by merely planting a suggestion.By the way, I have linked your site to mine (on links page), as I am intrigued by how foreigners are viewing the American scene, and am asking for letters for my “Foreigners Talk About America(ns)” page.http://ambi-partisan.com/

We also have liar-for-hire columnists trying to play the same trick over here – most obviously Melanie Philips. If you look beyond her newspaper articles, her blog is full of references to FrontPageMag.Con. There are also people with basically neo-con sympathies who pose as leftists and constantly slag down left wingers for being “cretins”, “moonbats” and all the rest.For an example of Phillips’ dishonest reporting, look at her coverage of the Warnock storm-in-teacup. Phillips is presenting it as a huge climbdown, which it’s not – Warnock stands by her original ideas but says they’ve been taken too far. You’d think she was saying we should go back to dumping disabled people in homes, which she’s not. I’ve got a particular interest in this, having been in a so-called special school myself.